Hello people!
Yes!!! I have stepped on the ground of my motherland... China! Most important of
all one of my greatest wish came true - I brought my mom to China (sponsored her trip
- RM 1,688 per person and my brother sponsored her expenditure) and it was such a
wonderful eye-opening trip for her and for me as well.
Personally, I wasn't that keen on China. Few years back, I asked mom if there was any place in the world to visit, which would she choose. She chose China. That somehow we must return to see our roots. There and then, I thought this would be the perfect gift for her. You can't possibly imagine my mom's happiness when we safely arrived back to Malaysia. She still can't believe that she'd made it.
Besides visiting popular touristic places, I had the most wonderful time watching Beijing's "life". Very special indeed because so many things are different around there. I must apologize if I sound overwhelmingly pleased. I'm just so grateful for a lot of things - so many things could've gone wrong especially if mom got sick (she has dizzy spells and a knee ache - all the more reason why I really want this trip a reality).
I'm so thankful to San Cheong Kong tour/travel agency (a bit of advertisement here), a local Seremban agency with many years of experience in trips to China. A setback though. Guides are conducted in Mandarin.
I guess I should put it more accurately, I should be most thankful to Mr. Wong Jong Kong, our local tour leader who put his heart and soul into making us all comfortable and happy.
I am going to take a somewhat chronological approach into telling this trip. There
are many explanations left out regarding the places because the foreign tourist guide
conversed in Mandarin. Most of the time I was only guessing what he's trying to say
as he speaks a high level of Mandarin. Come to think of it, the only bad thing about
this trip was that I don't know Mandarin (can't read or write but can understand and
speak simple Mandarin) well enough. Almost everyday my heart is crushed when I can't
get to understand fully the guide's very informative explanation. He's a graduate
and majors in Chinese History. Isn't it a wonderful feeling to be able to know about
a place and being there appreciating it to the fullest? I felt that way (left-out)
at the Forbidden City. This place is so rich in history with so many historical
events concerning the many emperors who have stayed there. I didn't merely wanted to
look at its architectural wonders, I wanted to feel its wonders as well.
Anyway, fortunately, I did a bit of homework prior my departure as I knew that our guide would be speaking Mandarin. By the way, you might be thinking - why choose this agency in the first place? I did try to find out about Reliance but then the impression I got was that they are not experienced enough and they don't seem to give a confident service.
Enough said about choosing a travel agency, let's get on with the story!!!
